If you've ever opened a notebook to find seven half-finished songs staring back at you, this post is for you.
Knowing how to finish a song is one of the hardest skills in songwriting — and one of the least talked about. I don't know how many times I've sat just staring at a half-written song, waiting on the ending to magically pop into my head. Starting is easy. That first spark of an idea, a melody, a line you love — that part feels good. It radiates with you, giving you that sensation that you crave. You know the feeling, the one that screams to you: THIS SONG will be the one that changes everything.
And then you sit down to write the second verse...... and the feeling fades, and all of your progress seems to come to a screeching halt. You play the song over and over in your mind — that first verse, that chorus — it all makes sense and it's got the fire. But where does it go from here? Maybe you record parts of it. Maybe you find yourself singing half a song for months. But you just can't seem to get it across the finish line.
If this sounds familiar at all, you should know that you're not alone.
Here's why it happens, and more importantly, how to get through it.
Why Songwriters Get Stuck
Understanding the cause of this block is the first step to fixing it.
Perfectionism. The idea in your head sounds incredible. The version you're writing sounds like... well... less than that. So you stop, convinced you're doing it wrong. In reality, every song sounds rough in the middle of being written. We always seem to think that inspiration should hand us the PERFECT WORDS. But the truth is, most songs go through many phases before the world ever gets to hear them. Even the hits. Even the ones that sound effortless. Here's a great interview with Benny Blanco that shows just how many iterations some of his biggest songs went through before they became what you know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q12XDphPJL0
You've lost the emotional thread. You started from a feeling, but somewhere along the way you got lost in your head. The song stopped being about something real. The reality is, you were probably lucky to get caught in the right headspace to write that banger chorus. But now you're not there. Now you're somewhere else. Now you're thinking about this song as a chore to finish — a thing you NEED to do. And nothing kills creativity faster than obligation.
You're trying to write and judge at the same time. Creation and criticism are two different jobs. When you try to do both at once, they cancel each other out. Every time you write a new line, you're measuring it against your initial hook. How can you possibly write so many bad lines after writing something so good? That's not a talent problem. That's a process problem.
Technique 1: Give Yourself Permission to Write a Bad Ending
Tell yourself: "I'm going to finish this song, and it's allowed to be terrible."
A finished song you're not in love with is infinitely more useful than an unfinished song you love. You can fix a bad ending. If you never write the ending — well, there's nothing to fix.
Set a deadline, even if it's a silly one. "I will have a complete draft of this song by Sunday." Then meet it, no matter what. Be ok with it not being perfect. It's ok if you're not in the best headspace — just set a time and FINISH it.
One of two things will happen. One, you write something great and suddenly you can't stop playing it for everyone who will listen — your friends, your partner, the stranger next to you at the coffee shop. Two, you write something subpar, but you WILL still feel the satisfaction of having finished it. Yeah, you'll know it's not perfect. You'll know it's not your best work. BUT you can iterate on it. You can find what you hate most and fix it. All while still having a FINISHED SONG.
Technique 2: Go Back to Why You Started
When you get stuck, the worst thing you can do is keep staring at the blank second verse. You'll just sit there in a spiral, convincing yourself that whatever made that first verse great was a fluke.
Instead, stop. Go back to the beginning. Read your first verse out loud. Listen back to the voice memo you recorded when the idea first hit you. Find the thing that made you excited about this song in the first place — because that thing is still there, you've just buried it under pressure and overthinking.
Ask yourself: what feeling was I trying to capture when I started this? What did I want someone to feel when they heard it? Not what did I want them to think — what did I want them to FEEL?
Here's the thing about songs — the ending isn't some separate idea you have to invent from scratch. Most of the time, it's already hiding in your opening lines. Your verse sets up a question. Your chorus is the emotional answer to that question. And if you've got a second verse to write, it's usually about deepening that same feeling — taking the listener further into it, not introducing something brand new.
So when you're lost, go back to the start. The map is usually already there.
Technique 3: Lower the Stakes
Here's something that happens to almost every songwriter at some point. You write something you really love — a great hook, a killer opening line, a chorus that just hits — and suddenly that song becomes THE song. The one that's going to change things. The one people are going to remember.
And then you can't finish it.
That weight you put on it? That's what's killing it. You've gone from writing a song to protecting a song. And those are two completely different headspaces.
So try this. For one writing session — just one — decide that this song doesn't matter at all. Pretend it's a throwaway. A writing exercise. Something you're doing just to kill an hour. Write it like nobody is ever going to hear it, like it's not going to be on any playlist, like your favorite artist isn't going to stumble across it someday.
Write it badly on purpose if you have to.
What you'll find, more often than not, is that when you take all the pressure off, something real starts to come out. The good stuff was always there — it was just suffocating under the weight of your expectations. Give it room to breathe, and it'll surprise you.
Technique 4: Finish It Out Loud
This one sounds almost too simple, but don't sleep on it.
Sing the song as far as you've written it. Then just... keep going. Don't stop when the lyrics run out. Make up words. Hum the melody. Sing total nonsense syllables if you have to. Just don't stop moving forward.
Your voice and your instincts have been living with this song too. And a lot of the time, they know where it wants to go before your brain does. There's something about physically singing through a song — feeling it in your chest, hearing it out loud — that unlocks things that staring at a page never will.
The most important part: record everything. Every single session, even the ones that feel like a waste of time. Voice memo on your phone, don't overthink the setup, just hit record and go.
You will be amazed how often you mumble something halfway through a rambling run-through that turns out to be exactly the line you were looking for. It won't sound like a finished lyric when it comes out. It'll probably sound like gibberish. But when you play it back, something will jump out at you. It always does.
The song is in there. Sometimes you just have to sing your way to it.
The Goal Is a Finished Draft, Not a Perfect Song
The finished songs become real things in the world. They get played at open mics, recorded in bedrooms, shared with the person they were written for. They grow and change and sometimes turn into something you never expected.
Unfinished songs just live in notebooks.
Give yourself permission to finish imperfectly. Then go back and make it better.
